There is a limited portion of the human population that is capable of visualizing scenes and objects in their minds without directly viewing them concurrently. People readily comprehend elements at which they are actively looking, but they can rarely integrate in their minds views of multiple objects from different perspectives acquired at different times. This limited human visualization capability makes it difficult or impractical for a prospective purchaser to determine in advance whether specific items are suitably beneficial so as to justify purchasing them. This is particularly important with respect to home or office furnishings and outdoor plants and décor, given the variety of fabrics, patterns, finishes, plant types, colors and spaces from which to choose. The conventional design process currently associated with living or working spaces relies upon a customer's ability to perform this internal visualization with only sketches or computer-generated images (CGI). For most people, CGI is noticeably artificial in comparison to real photographs.
Even with excellent artistic and technical skills, a designer can fall short of adequately showing prospective customers the actual appearance of the end product of the design experience until the installation is complete. Hand-drawn sketches show a limited or artificial view of how things might look together and lack the texture and realism of actual photographic images. Traditional 2-dimensional computer-generated images also fall short of the realism and attractiveness of stereoscopic 3-dimensional photographic images.
The failure to accurately portray the effect of a new design within existing spaces often results in a mismatch between customer expectations and the delivered product. Customer dissatisfaction can require re-stocking and additional labor, both of which are financially negative for businesses and frustrating for customers. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of presenting realistic interior and exterior designs that aids customers in visualizing the results of a design process. There is further the need for a product selection process that provides vendors a cost-effective way of promoting their products in a compelling fashion. There is a further need for automating key portions of the preparation process to make them more efficient.